Order fulfillment is no doubt a tough nut to crack. It can directly make or break your business. Online sellers who pay attention to their order fulfillment strategies flourish in the market. While those that don’t, often fall out form the cut-throat market competition. Either way, order fulfillment is something small businesses find difficult to take care on their own. This is where 3PL logistics comes into the picture.
3PL logistics can help break down the nuances of your order fulfillment strategy to a great extent. They can help you take care of all details without having to worry about the costs.
The best part is that by taking care of the order fulfillment strategy, 3PLs can provide superior customer experience.
For example, your order experience might be destroyed due to broken or damaged packages. 3PL logistics can take care of all, by helping you analyze the nitty-gritty of the matter. They will tell you the precise reason why your deliveries are turning into return orders. Moreover, they will also tell you the ways you can minimize these.
Similarly, a 3PL can help you fulfill your orders with complete efficiency. If you’re interested in knowing all that they can do for you, keep reading.
Here is everything you need to know about how a 3PL can help you improve your order fulfillment-
Improving Order Fulfillment with 3PL Logistics
Greater Flexibility
Hiring a logistics company can save you from making long-term commitments and investments. If you plan on taking care of your own transportation and storage, you will need to buy suitable vehicles, strategic warehouses, and hire the necessary personnel.
All of this comes at a high cost. Your business may also go through lean periods or off-seasons when your products are in less demand. But you will still have to pay the full cost of your logistics arrangement.
Most logistics providers have flexible pricing options, and you may only need to pay for what you use. Logistics providers cater to multiple clients and can afford to have long term investments in their logistic capabilities. They can offer you better services at cheaper costs compared to the costs of handling your logistics yourself.
For example, you can pay some logistics companies only on a monthly basis depending on the use of service. You can pay less during months when your sales are low. This can greatly reduce your expenditure on logistics.
More Productivity with Fewer Resources
If you fulfill your orders by yourself, you’ll need to hire more resources. These include warehouse staff, drivers, packagers, and so on. Apart from these, you will need to effectively manage your logistics as well. Hiring several employees may not be the best move for your business if you don’t have a regular and dependable customer base.
If your business is new or seasonal, then you will be better off hiring a 3PL management company that can hire the necessary personnel on their own. They will also take care of the management and ownership of your logistics.
A 3PL company always has all the necessary personnel needed to receive inventory, process your orders, and ship each order.
Logistics Expertise
It goes without saying that 3PL management companies specialize in logistics and usually have significant experience in that area. You may not have the necessary experience to effectively manage the logistics component of your business. If you hire a third-party logistics company, you can focus on the more important areas of your business.
Logistics is one of those areas of business you can effectively outsource. If you don’t have unique packaging needs or delivery requirements, you can easily opt for a 3PL.
For example, if you are a manufacturer, you can concentrate on sourcing your raw materials. Or ensuring the proper functioning of your factories, and finding distributors for your products. And all this can be done rather than spending time taking care of back-end logistics.
Reduce Costs
If you are a small to medium-sized business, hiring a logistics company can reduce your order fulfillment costs. This is because logistics companies can leverage their buying power on shipping and packaging. At the same time, they can hire the necessary employees, and provide better services at lower costs.
You do not have to make the necessary investments or spend on your logistics management. Logistics companies have the advantage of shipping and storing higher volumes of goods.
Hence, their overall logistics cost per product is lower than if you were managing your logistics yourself. This difference can be significant, and you can use the funds you have saved on other aspects of your business.
Simplified Packaging
3PLs can help you simplify your packaging strategy. Most of the online businesses do not realize it, but packaging plays a huge role in determining the success of your business.
Statistics suggest that as many as 10 percent of the customers consider product packaging as important as the brand itself. Similarly, in another instance, online sellers that pay attention to the packaging of a product, receive a 30 percent greater interest from their customers in their brand.
Sounds surprising, isn’t it?
In simpler terms, packaging can make or break your business. Businesses that don’t often pay attention to the packaging of a product face more than a few setbacks. For example, if you aren’t paying attention to the packaging of your product, you fall in any of the below categories-
- Not packaging your products for safe delivery. The point is no matter how much do the carriers promise you of safekeeping the package, the experience is destroyed if a package is damaged in the transit. Therefore, it is your reputation at stake after all.
- You’re investing too much in packaging. These are unnecessary costs in your business that you can avoid with optimized packaging practices.
- You are being overcharged for shipping your products. By choosing a large box to ship your products, you are increasing its volumetric weight. As a result, you will be charged more for your package by your courier company.
- You want to create an impact with your packaging but you can’t. You either don’t know where to get started or find the costs too much for your business.
A 3PL logistics provider can help you put all of these in place. They help you pick, pack, and deliver your packages with ease. A lot of 3PLs also offer packaging services which streamlines one of the toughest jobs of order fulfillment.
You can opt for a smarter packaging option from your 3PL logistics provider. Alternatively, they can also offer you the option of branded packaging at low costs.
Streamline Your Shipping with 3PL Logistics
3PL logistics can be your key to unprecedented growth. The only key is to get started with them as soon as possible. Make sure that your 3PL is a reliable partner. Take your time to research about your options.
One important factor before choosing a 3PL is its customer support. This will help you reach out to them instantly in situations where your packages are stuck. Dash101 is a great option to outsource your shipping. They not only help you improve your order fulfillment but also take it a notch higher with lowest shipping costs.
